A Macroinvertebrate Search

ALDERFLY
AQUATICWORMS
CADDISFLY
CRANEFLY
CRAYFISH
DAMSELFLY
DOBSONFLY
DRAGONFLY
LEECH
MAYFLY
MIDGE
MOSQUITOLARVA
MUSSEL
RIFFLEBEETLE
SALMONFLY
SIDESWIMMER
SNAIL
STONEFLY
WATERPENNY

Macroinvertebrates are a diverse group of animals, ranging from insects and crustaceans to molluscs and worms. They have been around for about 500 million years and some were even living in our waterways before the dinosaurs! Different aquatic macroinvertebrates have different tolerance levels to water pollution. Some water critters are sensitive to pollution, which means if the waterway was to become polluted they will die or move elsewhere. Other critters are tolerant to pollution, meaning they can survive in polluted water. By sampling a waterway for macroinvertebrates and identifying what’s there you will get a good indication of water quality and habitat condition. This word search contains the names of the different kinds of macroinvertebrate one might find in a typical freshwater stream. Good Luck!

Try to find all 19 words on this board.

C L Y Z D M R V I I I A R L Y
A Q N P D R A G O N F L Y M L
D M N H K Z T Y G A F L O A F
D R E M M I W S E D I S C Y N
I U P G I U U Q O A Q T R F O
S K R W D T S B N U R O A L M
F O E U G B S S I P Q N Y Y L
L T T S E O A T E I A E F Q A
Y M A U N P O W T L Y F I Z S
W A W F X L E E C H I L S H M
B Z L C A L D E R F L Y H T E
D Y F R I F F L E B E E T L E
A Z V X Y L F E N A R C B R E
H A Q U A T I C W O R M S J H
S O M S T A D A M S E L F L Y
Brought to you by WordSearchFun.com



Answer Key for A Macroinvertebrate Search

X
Y
123456789101112131415
1C # Y # # # # # # # # # # # Y
2A # N # D R A G O N F L Y M L
3D # N # # # # # # # # L O A F
4D R E M M I W S E D I S C Y N
5I # P # I U # # O A Q T R F O
6S # R # D # S B N U # O A L M
7F # E # G # S S I # # N Y Y L
8L # T # E O # T E # # E F # A
9Y # A # N # O # # L # F I # S
10# # W F # L E E C H # L S # #
11# # L # A L D E R F L Y H # #
12# Y # R I F F L E B E E T L E
13# # V # Y L F E N A R C # # #
14# A Q U A T I C W O R M S # #
15# # # # # # D A M S E L F L Y
Word X Y Direction
ALDERFLY  511e
AQUATICWORMS  214e
CADDISFLY  11s
CRANEFLY  1213w
CRAYFISH  134s
DAMSELFLY  715e
DOBSONFLY  104sw
DRAGONFLY  52e
LEECH  610e
MAYFLY  142s
MIDGE  54s
MOSQUITOLARVA  88sw
MUSSEL  54se
RIFFLEBEETLE  412e
SALMONFLY  159n
SIDESWIMMER  124w
SNAIL  87ne
STONEFLY  124s
WATERPENNY  310n